Managing air quality

We are committed to taking actions to improve air quality, identifying areas where levels of local air pollutants are exceeding air quality objectives and working with the community to reduce the pollutants and their effects on health.

Annual status reports

We have completed annual progress reports against our goals in the plan to improve air quality in the borough. The latest report is the Air Quality Annual Status Report for 2022. It reports on data for the calendar year 2022 that was approved and accepted by the Greater London Authority in August 2023. The Council still has Cleaner Air Borough status.

Air Quality Action Plan (2023-2028) - revised measures and actions

Our Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP) has been reviewed as some of the current actions have either been completed or been superseded. The revised Air Quality Action Plan contains measures to improve air quality across the borough helping to reduce the key pollutants of concern within the borough – Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2) and Particulate Matter (PM10).

These pollutants come from a variety of sources including road traffic, boilers and construction. Taking positive actions to attempt to reduce their levels and exposure to them will help to safeguard public health and improve quality of life.

Consultation

We have published our new Air Quality Action Plan and set out how it will meet the recommendations of the Wandsworth Citizens’ Assembly on Air Quality.

The Citizens' Assembly was set up as part of our commitment to use innovative ways to enable local people to set the tone and direction around the responses to crucial borough-wide issues. It is a group of 50 randomly chosen local people representing the diversity of the borough who met to discuss issues around air quality, hear from community groups and air quality experts and come up with a set of recommendations about what action could be taken in Wandsworth to improve air quality and reduce associated health impacts.

Assembly members presented their final report in June 2023. We have used their recommendations as the basis of our new Air Quality Action Plan. Air pollution in Wandsworth has been falling but the plan sets ambitious new targets based on World Health Organization definitions of dangerous levels of air pollution – which are more challenging than the UK targets currently used. The plan also reflects the increased urgency to respond to the climate emergency and the need to protect the health of local people, with emphasis on protecting the most vulnerable, including children.

Up to Monitoring air quality

Updated: 24/11/2023